John Mullins

Wilson/Texas Tennis Coaches Association

2006 5A Coach of the Year

I started teaching at La Porte High School in 1970. My teaching assignment has always been physics. For one year in1975, I assisted the varsity tennis coach after school. I was given the varsity tennis position at La Porte High School in 1978. I have continued to coach at La Porte for 28 years. Until 2003, I was the only coach for the entire program.

Some of the players that played during these years earned district championships. In 1980, Peter Dixon captured the boy’s singles district title in the district that included Clear Lake and Clear Creek. In 1994 and 1995, Cori Mullins and Kalyn Lewis captured the girl’s doubles district title. In 2001, William Owens was boy’s singles district champion. In 2006, Drew Zemanek and Tamra Bryson won the first district mixed doubles title. In 1993 and 1994, La Porte captured the district team tennis title. In 2005, La Porte was tri-champ in district team tennis. I have had the good fortunate to qualify a number of singles players or doubles teams for the regional tournament during my 28 years of coaching.

I have been a certified USTA umpire since 1982. I have worked junior, adult, college, and professional tournaments during this time. I have worked regional tournaments (5A and 4A) and state UIL team tennis tournament (5A and 4A) and the spring UIL tournament as a roving umpire or referee. I have served as the referee for the regional 4A tournament at Friendswood for the past two years. I have been elected to the board of the Houston Tennis Umpires Association for the past three years and served as president of the board in 2004-2005. I serve as the referee for the majority of the junior and adult tournaments in the southeast area of Houston. I was the person responsible for obtaining the ZAT and Championship Major Zone in Pasadena. I convinced the La Porte Optimist Club to sponsor the Championship Major Zone and use it to fund four scholarships valued at $3000 at La Porte High School. Since the introduction of the summer team tennis program offered through the Texas section of USTA, I have worked with junior players from the La Porte and Pasadena area during the summer. I have been associated with two state championship teams in the USTA Junior Team Tennis summer program.

My wife, Patricia, and I enjoyed played tennis for 32 years until she was diagnosed and treated for cancer. I have a son, Philip, and a daughter, Cori; both played high school tennis at La Porte. Both of my children played junior tennis in Texas and were qualified players. Cori was qualified in Superchamp 18’s. At the college level, Cori competed at San Jacinto Junior College in Pasadena and finished at Incarnate Word University in San Antonio.